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Raising a Gifted Child Isn’t Easy

When I learned the state of Texas classifies gifted students as special needs, I didn’t fully understand what that meant.

Until today.

I have read every book and every article I can. I have tried to learn from those with experience.

But I will say nothing fully prepares you.

There isn’t a guide that tells you how to balance their knowledge while keeping their innocence. How to maintain friends and a filter.

Many see posts and articles about gifted kids as bragging when in reality it’s a shout out to the world to better understand them. They cannot help who they are.

There’s a fine balance in letting your child know that they have a major grasp of knowledge and that they may think differently than their peers and to not share everything and be someone who they are not.

Today I found out that it is almost impossible to explain this without divulging how much more they may understand the big picture and that they cannot share or express this with their peers without ruining the innocence of their closest friends in the process.

See, the hardest part is handling gifted kids with other gifted kids. Especially if the parents of the other kids don’t realize their kids are gifted.

Gifted children are naturally drawn to other gifted chidkren. When they interact it is great. When they find each other they are happy. But that doesn’t mean it’s always rainbows. There are many other issues that arise when gifted kids interact. It is par for the course. Especially when most gifted children are introverts and one that is an extrovert comes along.

I get that, but when that happens, the normal parenting guide gets thrown out the window. You have to improvise. And pray. There’s a lot of praying involved.

My biggest fear is that Madison will be judged. And that’s not an excuse for her shortcomings. But, I fear she will bring out what seems to be the shortcomings of those she is close to. To those she identifies with. To those that are gifted and don’t fit into the normal parenting books are looked down upon for who they really are.

Standards are mandatory. Faith and Religion is mandatory. Anything that compromises those are not ok. Everything else is. Fitting inside the box all the time is not good as long as it doesn’t compromise beliefs or family to the point of disruption. There’s always a happy medium.

Now as Madison gets older it is getting harder. Up until this point she had not realized where she is intellectually, socially or emotionally. And all are on very different scales. She is starting to question the intellectual part and I’m not sure how to address it. So if I am struggling to understand what that means and what to do, how to do I even begin to explain it to anyone else?